MANILA, Philippines -- Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima said the US State Department?s human rights report on the Philippines should remind the police and the military of the importance of properly training their personnel to respect the human rights of people in their custody.

The CHR has been helping the government?s security forces in human rights training and De Lima said the CHR would conduct an ?impact assessment? of the modules used in the training amid the findings of the US State Department, many of which were based on CHR?s own reports.

De Lima said on Monday she had not read the 14,582-word report, but she had read the news accounts that quoted the report.

She said the report confirmed the ?fact that human rights violations are attributed to the institutional deficiencies of the state?s security forces.?

She also said that ?emphasizing human rights will help improve professionalism; if you are compliant with human rights standards, you will actually improve professionalism.?

The US State Department released its report to the American Congress in line with its duty to assess countries it gives aid to on strategic issues.

On another front, the CHR said the Philippine National Police should have shuffled police chiefs and provincial directors long before the election period, amid the expected rise in election-related violence during the local campaigning.

De Lima said: ?We expect high election-related violence because of the local elections. Our state security forces should be prepared. There should be continuing vigilance on the ground.?

The reassignment of local police officials would ensure that police forces would remain neutral she said, adding that the ?familiarity? between local politicians and police officials usually resulted in the police officials being ?partisan.?

De Lima said: ?By now, they should have already implemented a shuffle of regional and provincial directors and police chiefs.?

The local campaign starts on March 26.